“Neoware made its name selling thin clients for Windows. Now
it has built a new strategy around embedded systems, appliances,
and Linux….“
“Eon is the Swiss army knife of Linux appliances. It is built on
the proposition that a single cheap Linux box can replace
everything from routers to card readers to cash registers to thin
clients, depending on what software is loaded on it. Neoware
doesn’t make the software; it sells boxes loaded with NeoLinux to
developers, who add applications to fit Eon to various embedded
markets.”
“Our idea is to provide the basis to build a whole new
generation of devices based on Linux,” said Michael Kantrowitz, CEO
of Neoware. “The Eon platform and NeoLinux, our embedded Linux, and
a suite of management tools lets you manage, configure and even
upgrade them across the net.”
“The Eon platform is a plain-vanilla x86 box (it uses the
National Semiconductor Geode chip) with decent performance and a
good complement of I/O ports. It is so standard, in fact, that
Neoware sells the same box, loaded with Windows CE, as the
NeoStation 3000C, a thin client for Windows applications. What
makes Eon interesting is the software and the underlying concept —
not to mention Neoware’s history as a staunch supporter of Windows
thin clients.”